[pdurrant]

I win.


Cake Recipe:

Spoiler:

Carefully line a 9" cake tin. Coat the bottom with butter/margarine and then a layer of fine brown sugar. Drain two tins of pear halves, and place the pear halves cut side down tightly packed in the bottom of the tin "in a pleasing pattern". You can fill the pear halves with cherry halves if you like cherries.

Make up a simple cake mixture - 6oz self-raising flour, 6oz caster sugar, 3oz butter or margarine, three eggs, 1oz cocoa powder (optional). Also add two to four tablespoons of the juice the pears halves were in. The cake mixture should be of a thick pouring consistency.

Pour the mixture over the pears - make sure it covers the pears completely, even if only by a mm or two. (if necessary 'scrape it over the pears and leave a dip where there isn't so much pear - it will even out when it bakes)

Bake the cake in a moderate (180°C) oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Let it cool before turning out - the butter and sugar will have formed a syrup glaze at the bottom of the cake which is now the top, and will reveal the pattern of the pears.